Thursday, December 13, 2012

Here's one of the Policy Briefs I wrote for China Development Brief in November. It's about whether the Chinese government can have it both ways. It want to support the development of NGOs, but at the same time, closely manage and supervise that developmental process. But doesn't the latter ultimately subvert the former? Here's what I said:

In the run-up to the 18th Party Congress which opened
November 8 and ended November 15 with the announcement of China’s new
leadership core, the news falls into two categories of policy trends
that we have been seeing over this past year.

The first of these trends involves policies that are more supportive of
social organizations, the official term in China for nonprofits or
NGOs. These policies come in different forms. One is the continuation
of reforms at the local level to make registration easier for social
organizations. This month, much of the news has been about reforms in
the wealthy eastern province of Zhejiang, such as the cities of Ningbo and Wenzhou. Another policy involves local governments, in places like Guangdong and Sichuan,
setting up special funds to support and incubate social organizations
and contract services to social organizations. More localities are
financing these special funds using public welfare lottery money. Some environmental NGOs,
however, have found that the funds used for purchasing services from
social organizations are not sufficient to carry out their projects.
The second trend involves policies seeking to better regulate and
manage the social organization sector. We have seen some of these
policies and guidelines come out over the last few months. This month,
we hear about other methods the government is using to standardize the
sector. Both the Ministry of Civil Affairs and local Civil Affairs
bureaus are providing ratings
to registered social organizations, although it is not clear what goes
into creating these ratings. With a 3A-level rating or above from the
Ministry, a social organization may receive awards, and is given
priority for government contracting. With a 4A-level rating or above, an
organization can undergo a simplified process for its yearly
inspection. An organization’s rating is good for a three-year period
and is based on a 1000 point rating system.

Ratings may not be a bad idea if done correctly, but another method
that has been making the news is the Party’s efforts to become involved
in managing social organizations. We touched on this in our last Policy
Brief where we discussed the role of the Social Affairs Committee which
is a newly formed agency under the local Party Committee responsible for
social affairs which includes the development of social organizations.
This month, we continue to hear more news
about efforts to establish Party branches and groups within social
organizations. This trend would mean both the government and Party would
be involved in supervising social organizations.

It is not clear how the government and Party would coordinate their
specific roles and responsibilities, but the involvement of both Party
and government bureaucracies in managing social organizations is not a
good sign. It runs counter to the first trend of supporting social
organizations and making it easier for them to operate. Perhaps the
Party and government see their efforts to manage social organizations as
a good faith, paternalistic gesture to provide guidance and support.
But they could also be interpreted as micromanagement, and an attempt to
exercise stricter supervision over social organizations. As one article in the People’s Daily,
the Communist Party’s mouthpiece, makes clear, “loosening restrictions”
over social organizations does not mean authorities should “become lax
or complacent”.

Micromanagement not withstanding, some observers have been optimistic about the future for social organizations after the 18th Party Congress. Professor Wang Ming,
director of Tsinghua University’s NGO Research Center and one of the
leading authorities on China’s NGOs, is bullish on the future for social
organizations, noting that the 18th Party Congress continued the same strong support for social organizations expressed at the 17th Party Congress in 2007.

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

I'm reposting here China Development Brief (English)'s December Newsletter. CDB (English) is the place to go for information and resources about China's nonprofit, NGO, philanthropic space. Check our stuff out!

Highlight: New "Weekly Civil Society News" Feature

In order to help our readers keep up with the rapidly-changing
landscape of Chinese civil society, CDB has developed a new weekly
feature which compiles some of the most interesting and groundbreaking
Chinese and English-language news articles concerning Chinese NGOs, with
an emphasis on government policy. Here is the most recent Weekly Civil Society News, and please check our homepage on Fridays for weekly updates!

Yang Guang: From MSM Trailblazer to Marching in Place
Introduction: As part of her series on NGOs in Anhui, CDB Senior Staff
Writer, Guo Ting, provides a moving account of an MSM (Men who have Sex
with Men) worker’s 14 year effort to provide a space for gay men in
Fuyang, Anhui to get counseling and HIV testing.

Roundtable on the Impact of Recent Policy Changes on China’s NGOs
Introduction: In May of this year, CDB invited a diverse group of NGOs
to share their views regarding recent policy reforms in the NGO sector
at both the national and local levels. What they had to say should be
read by everyone who is concerned about the impact these reforms will
have on China’s nascent civil society….

Yang Yunbiao’s Brainchild: A Rural Cooperative in Anhui
Introduction: CDB Senior Staff Writer, Guo Ting, delves into the
fascinating world of rural cooperatives in this profile of an Anhui
cooperative founded by Yang Yunbiao, a former rural rights-defense
(weiquan) activist…..

In the next month, we will have articles appearing on gender and
feminism, a "voluntourism" NGO, and an oral history of Xu Bai, founder
of Golden Key, an organization that promotes education for blind
children.

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